Ambrose Madison

Ambrose Madison
Born(1696-01-17)January 17, 1696
Orange County, Colony of Virginia
DiedAugust 27, 1732(1732-08-27) (aged 36)
Orange County, Colony of Virginia
Cause of deathMurder by poison
Occupation(s)Planter and politician
SpouseFrances Taylor (m. 1721–1732; his death)
ChildrenJames Madison Sr.
Parent(s)John Madison
Isabella Avarilla Minor Todd
RelativesLt. Col. John Madison Sr. (grandfather)

Ambrose Madison (January 17, 1696 – August 27, 1732) was an American planter and politician in the Piedmont of Virginia Colony. He married Frances Taylor in 1721, daughter of James Taylor, a member of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition across the Blue Ridge Mountains from the Tidewater. Through her father, Madison and his brother-in-law Thomas Chew were aided in acquiring 4,675 acres in 1723, in what became Orange County.[1] There he developed his tobacco plantation known as Mount Pleasant (and later as Montpelier.) The Madisons were parents of James Madison Sr. and paternal grandparents of President James Madison.

After Madison died of a short illness in August 1732, three slaves were convicted of poisoning him, and one was executed for the crime. It was the first time in Virginia that slaves were convicted of killing a planter.[2]

  1. ^ Taylor, Elizabeth Dowling. A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, Chapter 1
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chambers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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